Combined knitting and sewing machine



May

Filed March 3, 1958 10, 1960 E. JETTE COMBINED KNITTING AND SEWINGMACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet l INPENTM May 10, 1960 E. JETTE COMBINED KNITTINGAND SEWING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 3, 1958 MM we J5me 87 38fig. 4

E. JETTE COMBINED KNITTING AND SEWING MACHINE May 10, 1960 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 3, 1968 May 10, 1960 E. JETTE 2,935,862 aCOMBINED KNITTING AND SEWING MACHINE Filed March 3, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet4 &

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Em/k' JETTE' May 10, 1960 E. JETTE COMBINED KNITTING AND SEWING MACHINEFiled March s, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 UnitedQStates Patent The presentinvention relates to a machine which is a combination of knitting andsewing mechanisms and to a type of stitch obtained with said machine.

In the garment and similar industries, more particularly in the knitweartrade, it is frequently desired to apply ornamentations, consisting ofstrips of knitted fabric, on a base fabric, or to cover seams in a basefabric with strips of knitted fabric. Both type of operations areusually effected by sewing the prefabricated strips of knitted fabriconto the base fabric. However, the products obtained by theseconventional methods have a poor appearance because the sewing stitchesgo through the knitted fabric at irregularly disposed points: forexample, one sewing stitch might pass through a loop of one wale of theknitted fabric and the next sewing stitch through the yarn of a loop inanother wale of the knitted fabric. Also it is impossible with theconventional method to sew the strip of knitted fabric exactly along itsedges because a substantial number of sewing stitches will miss theedges of the strip altogether; thus a free marginal portion projectingoutwardly from the lines of stitches is always left.

Accordingly, the general object of the present invention is theprovision of a machine which is capable of applying a strip'of knittedfabric onto a base fabric by sewing said strip of knitted fabric to saidbase fabric in such a manner that predetermined ones of the knittedloops are sewn to the base fabric irrespective of the size of saidloops. p

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of amachine which is capable of sewing a strip of knitted fabric to a basefabric by means of stitches exactly passing through the loops of theknitted fabric at the edges of said knitted fabric.

Yet another important object of the present invention is the provisionof a machine which can attach a strip of knitted fabric to a base fabricby means of a plurality of lines of stitches extending longitudinally ofsaid strip and transversely spaced with respect to said strip and all ofsaid stitches passing through predetermined ones of the loops of theknitted fabric, such that all the stitches may be effected in exactlylongitudinally aligned loops 2,935,862 lC .L Patented Ma y10,l9 60 t 2of a combined sewing and knitting machine in which the same yarn is usedfor sewing and knitting;

Still another important object of the present invention is the provisionof new types of stitches which are a combination of knitting sewingstitches so as to obtain a covering stitch much more effective than thecurrent types of covering sewing stitches.

The foregoing and other important object of the present invention willbecome more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring tothe drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a combined knitting and sewing machinein accordance with the present in vention;

Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of a strip of knitted fabric showinghow the sewing stitches go through the end loops of the knitted fabricin accordance with the product of a first embodiment of the machine ofth present invention; p

Figure 2a is a cross-section of the strip of knitted fabric and of thebase fabric to which the knitted fabric is attached, shown on a reducedscale and made in accordance with the manner shown in Figure 2;

Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of a strip of knitted fabric in whichthe yarn :used for knitting is also used for sewing;

of the fabric and none of the stitches will extend through the yarn ofsaid fabric so as to obtain absolutely regularly disposed lines ofstitches in relation to the loops or the knitted fabric.

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of amachine which is capable of simultaneously knitting and sewing.

Yet another important object of the present invention 7 is the provisionof a knitting and sewing machine of the character described in which theknitting operation and the sewing operation are effected in synchronism.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a machine ofthe character described in which a yarn is used for knitting and anotheryarnis used for sewing. Another object of the present invention is theprovision Figure 3a is a cross-sectionion a reduced scale of the basefabric and of'the strip of knitted fabric in accordance with Figure 3,this product being the result of a modified form of the machine inaccordance with the present invention;

Figure 4 is a partial longitudinal section of the knitting mechanismshown in relation with a sewing needle;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the knitting mechanism used as an attachmenton a conventional sewing machine in accordance with the first embodimentof the invention;

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the mechanism of Fig ure 5;

Figure 7 is a side elevation of part of the sewing machine provided withthe driving means for driving the knitting mechanism of Figures 5 and 6;v

Figure dis a cross-section along line 8 8 ofFigure 7; i

Figure 9 is an exploded perspective view of part of the knittingmechanism;

Figure 10 is a plan View of the sewing needle plate;

Figures 11, 12 and 13 are schematic views of the knitting part of the.machine shownin different phases of the knitting and sewing operations;

Figure 14 is an elevation, partly in section, of the sewing needlearrangement and yarn feeding arrangement for use in a modifiedembodiment of the combined sewing and knitting machine of the presentinvention;

Figure 15 is a perspective view of the yarn feeding device of Figure 14;and

Figure 16 is a front elevation of the sewing needle arrangement shown inFigure 14.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which like referencecharacters indicate likeelements throughout, the machine, in accordancewith the present invention, is illustrated in Figure 1; it comprises aconventional sewing machine generally indicated at S, which is fittedwith a knitting mechanism, generally indicated by reference K; thesewing machine S comprises a table 1, a post 2 and an arm 3. The arm 3houses the C011! ventional mechanism for vertically reciprocating theneedle bar 4, particularly shown in Figure 6, which carries a pair oflaterally spaced sewing needles 5. The arm 3 also supports underneathits outer end thepresser foot bar 6 of conventional construction butfrom which the conventional presser foot has been removed; Under neaththe table 1 there is disposed a pair of conventional assesses a gstitching mechanisms (not shown) adapted to cooperate with the pair ofsewing needles 5. The stitching mech: anisms may be of any known typefor effecting any one of the U.S. types of stitches in classes 100, 300'and 400, such as chain stitch, U.S. type'No. 101, lock -stitch type No.301 or even double lock stitches such as U.S. type No. 404.

The drive shaft for the stitching mechanisms is shown at 7 in Figures 6and 7. In accordance with the present inventionfa power take-oif isderived from the drive shaft 7 for actuating the knitting mechanism K.Said power. take-01f is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 and corn prises abevelled gear 8 fast on the driving shaft 7 and meshing with a bevelledgear 9 secured at the lower end of a vertical shaftltl which isjournalled in a box 11 Secured to. the post 2 above the table 1 of thesewing machine as by means of bolts 12. The upper end of the shaft isprovided with another bevelled gear 13 meshing with a bevelled gear 14secured to a horizontal shaft 15 iournalled in a bracket 16 also securedto the ppst 2 of the sewing machine by means of bolts 17. An actuatingrod 18 is pivotally and eccentrically mounted on the bevelled gear 13,as shown at 19. The actuating rod 18 is connected at its other end to aknitting cam 20 of the knitting mechanism, as shown at 21 in Figure 5,and reciprocates said knitting cam 20 at a speed half the speed of thesewing movement of the sewing needles and of the. stitching mechanismsunderneath the table 1, due to. the fact that the, gear wheel 9 is twicethe diameter of the gear wheel 8, as shown in Figures 6 and 7. The outerface of the bevelled gear 14 is provided with a cam channel 22 which isengaged by a stud 23 of an actuating rod 24 provided with a fork 25slidably engaging the shaft 15 and retained on said shaft by means of apin 26. As shown in Figure 5, the other end of the actuating rod 24 ispivotally connected by means of a bolt 27 to the yarn carrier 28 of theknitting mechanism K.

The knitting mechanism K is generally disposed above the table 1 of thesewing machine at the location of the sewing needles 5. Moreparticularly, the main body 29 of. the knitting mechanism K is laterallyrigidly secured and longitudinally pivotally secured to the lower end ofthe presser bar 6 of the sewing machine by means of crum collars 30, asshown in Figure 6. The rear end portion of the body 29 is provided witha rigidly secured block 31 to which is fastened and axle 32 whichextends longitudinally of the sewing machine at the back of the table 1and towards the post 2 of the sewing machine where it is journalled in abearing member (not shown) supported by a post 33 disposed rearwardly ofthe post 2; of thesewing machine and rigidly secured to the bottom plateof the casing 34 of the sewing machine, said casing housing thestitching mechanism underneath the table 1 of thesewing machine. Thusthe base fabric onto whicha strip of knitted fabric is to be appliedpassesbetweenthe table 1 of the sewing machine and the under.- face of.the main body 29 of the knitting mechanism K (see. Figure 4); saidunderface of the main body 29 is normally spaced from the table 1 andserves to maintain thematerial against the feeding dogs 89 of the sewingmachine, due to the fact that said body 29 is pivotally mounted formovement in a vertical plane about the transverse axle 32 and that it isconnected at its forward end to the presser bar 6 of the sewing machine.The base fabric, together with the knitted strip, moves rearwardly overthe table 1, being pulled by a takeup roller 35. Said takeup roller 35is opposite presser roller 36 and the base fabric and knitted. strippass over the rear edge otf the table 1 then between rollers 35 and 36and finally underneath the block 31 and axle 32 to be discharged fromthe machine.

"Ihe presser roller 36 is mounted at the upper. end. of L-shaped arms 37which are pivotally connected at 38 to a block 39 secured to the bottomplate of the casing 34 of the sewing machine. The L-shaped arms 37 areurged upwardly. by means of springs (not shown) so. as to press theroller 36 against the take-up roller 35 at substantially the level ofthe table 1. The assembly of the rollers 35, 36 and arms 37 are disposedrearwardly in alignment with the sewing needles 5.

The knitting cam 20 is mounted for slidable movement transversely of themain body 2 9 of the knitting mechanism K. As shown in Figure 6, saidknitting cam is provided with lateral ribs 40 engaging guiding groovesmade in transversely extending, parallel guiding bars 41. The rearlongitudtinal edge of the knitting cam 20 is provided with ratchet teeth42 in meshing engagement with a gear wheel 43. mounted for rotationabout a vertical axis on the main body 29. A cam 44 is secured on top ofthe gear wheel 43 and rotates therewith to engage an abutment member 45which is secured to a carriage 46 on the sides of which are mounted apair of pawls 47 which are pivotally connected to the carriage 46 bymeans of a bolt 48. The carriage 46 is mounted for longitudinalreciprocating sliding movement with respect to the main body 29. Tensionsprings49 are connected at 5 0 to a stationary part of the main body 29and are connected at their rearend to adjusting screws 51 which arethreadedly mounted in a bracket 46 secured to the carriage 46. Thus thesprings 49 urge the carrier 46 forwardly'to abut the abutment member 45against the cam 44. Transverse movement of the knitting cam 20 in onedirection for knitting one course causes one complete rotation of thegear wheel 43 and cam 44. During this rotation the carriage 46 makes acomplete backward and forward movement whereby the pawls 47, which areurged by springs 52 in engagement with the teeth of a ratchet wheel 53secured to the shaft 54 of the take-up roller 35, cause rotation of saidtake-up roller 35 to thereby pull and move the fabric and knitted stripthe distance of one course of knitted stitches. The shaft- 54 of thetake-up roller- 35 and ratchet wheel 53 is horizontally journalled in apart of the main body 29 of the knitting mechanism. A pair of holdingpawls 55, pivoted on the main body 29, maintain the take-up roller 35against backward rotation. The holding pawls 55 are urged against theratchet teeth of the ratchet wheel 53 by means of springs 56 attached tothe main body 29.

Spaced brackets 57 are secured to the main body 29 at the-front portionthereof and extend forwardly of the presser bar 6 of the sewing machineand on each side thereof. Said. brackets 57 rigidly maintain in ahorizontal position a rail 58 on which the yarn carrier 28 is slidablymounted for reciprocating movement transversely of the long axis of themain body 29. Said yarn carrier is reciprocated along the rail 58 bymeans of the actusting rod 24, as previously described .11 6 yam carrier28 comprises a vertically extending elongated member 59 having an eye 60at its upper end, an open loop 61 intermediate its ends, and a yarnguiding and-, .feeding member 62 at its lower end which extends closetothe sewing needles 5' and is slightly forwardly spaced from the axesthereof, as clearly shown in Figure 6. The yarnfor knitting, which isshown at in Figures 11 to 13, is threaded through eye 60, loop 61 andyarn feeder. 62, and is thus fed to the knitting needles which areslidably mounted in the main body 29 of the knitting mechanism as willbe presently described.

As shown in Figure 9, the forward portion of the main body 29, comprisesan elongated plate like member 63 provided along the central partthereof with a plurality of closely adjacent parallel grooves 64 forreceiving conventional knitting needles 65, shown schematically inFigures 4 and 11.1 The upper face of the plate like member 63' isfurther provided with a shallow recess 66 adapted to receive a needleretaining cover plate 67 provided at its under-face with alongitudinally extending wide groove 68 adapted to be in alignment withthe assembly of' grooves 64. Thecentral part of the shallow 70 acrossthe apertures 84, 85.

9,95 sees recess 66 may be recessed, 'as shown at 69, to reduce thefriction caused by the knitting movement of the needles, 65.

ll The front portion of the plate like member 63 is provided with aplurality of grooves 70 which are axially aligned with the grooves 64and which are provided with upward bevelled extensions 71 adjacent theaperture 69. The front grooves 70 open at the forward edge 72 of theplate like member 63.

Forwardly extending flanges 73 of a reduced thickness project from thefront edge 72 of the plate like member 63. A thin head plate 74 isadapted to be secured underneath the flanges 73 and a strip or latchguard75 is adapted to be secured on top of the flanges 73 by means ofbolts passing through the aligned holes 76, 77 and 78 of the latch guard75, flanges 73- and thin plate 74. The thin plate 74 is provided with aplurality of spaced parallel ribs 79 which define grooves 79' inrespective axial alignment with the grooves 70 and 64 of the plate .63.

V The grooves 79' defined by the ribs 79 extend between the two flanges73 at the forward portion thereof and are located in axial alignmentwith the grooves 70 and 64 by means of locating pins 80 projecting fromthe thin plate 74am engaging small holes 81 made in the flanges 73. Thethin plate 74 is also secured underneath the flanges 73 by means ofcountersunk bolts passing through aligned holes 82 and 83 made in theflanges 73 and plate 74 respectively. p

The plate 74 has at its rear edge a cutout portion 84 which is adaptedto register with the enlarged opening 85 defined between the rear endportions of the two flanges 73. The cutout portion 84 is furtherprovided with notches 86 through which the two sewing needles of thesewing mechanism are adapted to pass. Said notches 86 are in respectivealignment with the needle holes 87 of a needle plate 88, shown in Figurewhich is secured on top of the table 1 of the sewing mechanism and flushwith the upper surface thereof, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 6.Feeding dogs 89 ap pertaining to the sewing mechanism project throughelongated slots made in the needle plate 88. The feeding dogs 89 arelocated laterally outwardly of the needle holes 87 and feed the basefabric for the knitting and sewing operations, said basefabric beingretained down against the dogs 89 by the plate 63 which functions as thecon ventional presser foot of a sewing machine.

their hooks 91 underneath the latch guard 75 which in turn positivelykeeps the latches 93 in opened position.

The yarn feeder 62 feeds the yarn 95 over the open latches 93 of theknitting needles in inactive forward position. The needles 65 then moverearwardly in suc cession and their hooks 91 catch the yarn 95; then thelatches 93 of the needles abut against the loops of a previously knittedcourse, said loops encircling the knitting needles. These loops, whichabut against the front edge 72 of the plate like member 63, causeclosing movement of the latches 93 and further retraction of the needlescauses the passage of the yarn hooked in hooks 91 through the loops' ofthe preceding course. In the subsequent forward movement of the knittingneedles, the new loops normally open the latches and slide along theneedle shanks. If for any reason the new loops are pulled for ward bythe needles, they will abut against the transverse main edge of cut outportion 84 of plate 74 and will thus start to open the latches and slideover the latter. The latch guard 75 will complete the opening movementof any latch still unopened.

When one course is completed, the knitting needles are all in theirforemost position, and the dogs 89 of the sewing mechanism and thetake-up roller 35 of the knit: ting mechanism move the base fabric andthe knitted fabric rearwardly the distance of a course. The succeedingcourse is knitted in similar manner with the yarn feeder 62 and knittingcam 20 moving in the opposite direction.

Figure 11 shows the relative position of the take-up cam 44, knittingcam 20, knitting needles 65 and yarn feeder 62 near the end of aknitting stroke. It will be noted that the take-up cam 44, which rotatesabout the vertical axis of the gear wheel 43, starts to allow forwardmovement of the abutment member which, therefore, causes thetake-uproller 35 to start tightening the fabric. The yard carrier 62 isalready at the end of its stroke and will remain idle until the knittingcam 20'has completed its stroke because stud 23 now engages theconcentric radially inner portion of the cam groove 22 (see Figure 7).The

Y knitting needle on the right hand side of the set of knita Theknitting needles 65 are of conventional construction and are disposedwithin the aligned grooves 64, 70 and 79' with their butts 65' upwardlyprojecting from the grooves 64 and the upper face of the plate likemember 63, and with their hooks 91 upwardly projecting and adapted toknit by moving between the grooves 79 and The hooks 91 of the knittingneedles are disposed in vertical planes and their opening facesrearwardly of the knitting mechanism. In their inactive position, thehooks 91 of the knitting needles 65 extend underneath the latch guard 75which has a knife edge, as shown in Figure 4, to positively open thepivoted latches 93 of the knitting needles.

The knitting needles 65 are longitudinally displaceable 'within theirrespective aligned grooves by means of the portions 94 of the. camchannel 94 positively maintain I fli'knitting needles 65 in theirforemost position with 5 start to descend through the needle plate 88,and further downward movement of the sewing needles 5 causes the righthand sewing needle 5 to prevent the yarn 95 from moving forwardly. Theknitting cam 20 completes its J stroke, as shown in Figure 12, therebypushing all the knitting needles into their foremost position, and thesewing needles continue to descend through the needle holes 87 and thesewing operation is completed by the sewing mechanism underneath theneedle plate 88 to form any type of sewing stitch.

While the sewing needles are still down, the yarn carrier 62 starts tomove back in reverse direction and then the knitting cam 20 also startsits reverse stroke to withdraw the knitting needles, as shown in Figure13. In Figure 13 the yarn feeder 62 is already well ahead in its strokeand the right hand knitting needle 65 has already .hooked the yarn 95,and the sewing needles 5 are Back .is effected on the other side of thestrip of knitted fabric simultaneously with the above cycle ofoperation; however, said last named sewing sitch does not go through Ithe adjacent end loop of the knittedstrip.

From the foregoing it will be clearly seen that the knit ed fab is b isknitted imultan ou y s it is saw to the fabric nd ne h- Figure 2.illustrates the new type of stitch obtained with the machine describedhereinabove. Successive cgurses of knitted loops 101 are added in thedirection of arrow 102, and the sewing stitches 103 pass throughendloops 101' at one end only of each course, while the alternate sewingstitches 103 do not go through the knitted fabric but through the basefabric only.

Figure 2a shows an application of the new type of stitch in accordancewith the present invention. Figure 2a shows two pieces 104 and 104 ofbase fabric which are stitched together in conventional manner at 165 toform a seam which is covered by the strip of knitted fabric 1tl6jwhichis stitched at 107 to the base fabric pieces 104 and 104, both theknitted strip 106 and the stitches 107 being made with the machine inaccordance with the present invention and just described. Obviously, theportions of the sewing stitches underneath the base fabric 104, 104" maybe any conventional type of sewing stitches desired.

, Figures 14 to, 16 show a modification of the machine in, accordancewith the present invention, and more particularly, of the arrangement ofthe yarn carrier and of the. sewing needles wherebythe same yarn is usedfor both the knitting and the sewing operation.

' The lower end of the needle bar 4 of the sewing mechanisrn is providedwith a support 110 rigidly secured, thereto and having two horizontallydisposed spaced parallel bores 111 in which are securely fitted twosupport rods 11 2 projecting, laterally on each side of the support 110.A yoke 113 has bores slidably engaging the rods 112 at its two spacedlegs so that the yoke 113 may slide along the rods 112 transversely ofthe needle bar 4 as clearly shown in Figure 16. A single sewing needle5' is removably and tightly secured to the center ofjthe yoke 113 andprojects vertically downwardly therefrom; a pin 114 is secured to theyoke 113 and projects forwardly therefromnear one end thereof.

The yarn carrier comprises a rider 115 having a bore 116. of rectangularcross-section for slidably receiving the support bar 58 of the knittingmechanism. The rider 115 is providedj on the inner face thereof with averactly as described in the first embodiment, except that the cam Z Z,shown in Figure 7, for actuating the yarn carrier is slightly modifiedto produce a shorter stroke of the yarn carrier, such that the sewingneedle 5', together with the eye 122 of the yarn carrier, will stop atthe end of their horizontal'stroke exactly opposite a notch 86 of theplate 74, shown in Figure 9, and opposite a needle hole 87 of the needleplate 88 long enough for the sewing-needle to eifectits sewing movement.

A course is knitted by the knitting needles while the yarn 1-19 is fedto said knitting needles, said yarn being threaded through the sewingneedle eye 124 and yarn carrier eye 122: At the end of the course, thesewing needle 5' which "is now aligned with the sewing hole 87, movesdownwardly through the base fabric and through the table of' the sewingmechanism to thereby make a sewing stitch in cooperation with the sewingmechanism underneath the table 1. The sewing needle 5' then movesupwardly under the action of the sewing mechanism while the yarn carrierremains stationary. When the sewing needleiis again in upwardposition,the yarn carrier moves The product obtained withthe second embodiment inaccordance with the present invention is illustrated in Figures 3 and3a. Figure 3 clearly shows that the yarn 119, which is used for makingthe knitted'loops 130;is stitched down at each alternate end of thesuccessive courses by sewing stitches 131. Figure 3a shows the knittedstrip 132 stitched onto the base fabric 133 by stitches 131 at exactlythe edges of the knitted strip 132. ln'the application illustrated inFigure 3a, the knitted strip is used to cover a seam 134 joining twopieces of the base fabric.

It will be obvious that more than two rows of sewing stitches 131 may beeffected with the machine in accordance with the second embodiment ofthe present invention'by slightly modifying its construction and thetiming of the relative movements of the various movable elements. Forinstance, if a third line of sewing stitches is desired in the middle ofthe knitted strip, the machine would be provided with a third stitchingmechanism underneath the table 1 and the timing would be modified toobtain the following movements: after half the knitting needles haveaccomplished their knitting operation in the production of one course,the knitting cam 20 will become stationary thereby stopping the knittingneedles 65 and also the yarn carrier will stop and the sewing needle 5will accomplish its reciprocating vertical movement to make a sewingstitch in cooperation With the third stitching mechanism, then the yarncarrier will resume its movement, together with the knitting cam 20, tocom.- plete the knitting of the course at the end of which a sewingstitch will be made as previously described.

In the same manner, the first embodiment of the machine in accordancewith the present invention may be modified to provide for more than twoend lines of sewing stitches by providing three or more sewing needlesattached to the needle bar and by changing the cam system for actuatingthe knitting earn and the yarn carrier, by changing the ratio of thespeed of operations of the knitting mechanism and of the sewingmechanism, and by providing a number of stitching mechanisms underneathtable 1, equal to the number of sewing needles and aligned therewith.

Another modification of the machine in accordance with the presentinvention would be to provide two knitting mechanisms, one above and theother underneath ,the base fabric to thereby apply a knitting stripabove a to, sew those two knitted strips by the same lines of sewingother course of knitted'loops.

stitches.

While preferred embodiments in accordance with the present invention,have been illustrated and described it is, understood that variousmodifications may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

,I claim:

1. A combined knitting and sewing machine compris ing in combination aknitting mechanism and a sewing mechanism, said sewing mechanismincluding a work supporting table having at least one needle hole, atleast one sewing needle, and means for reciprocating said sewing needlethrough s'aid'needle hole between an uppermost and lowermost positionwith the tip of said sewing needle above and below said tablerespectively, said knitting mechanism including a presser plate mountedfor engagement with a base fabric on said table, said presser plateextending rearwardly of the table from a point forwardly of said sewingneedle, a set of knitting needles having hooks and latches and supportedby and slidably mounted in said presser plate for reciprocating knittingmovement between a foremost position with their hooks disposed at thefront part of said presser plate and forwardly of said sewing needle anda rearmost position with their hooks disposed rearwardly of said sewingneedle, cam means engageable with said knitting needles for causingsaidneedles to. make their knitting; move:

inents, drive means for driving saidc'arn means in turn driven by thedrive of the sewing mechanism, said presser plate having an aperturetherethrough for the passage of said sewing needle and. for the passageof the fabric knitted by said knitting needles, and a yarn carriermounted on said presser plate for reciprocating movement transversely ofthe knitting needles, drive means for said yarn carrier connected to thedrive of said sewing mechanism to be actuated thereby, said yarn carrierextending above the knitting needles in the foremost position of thelatter to supply yarn to said knitting needles, so constructed andarranged that said sewing mechanism and said knitting mechanism operatein synchronism, said knitting needles knitting successive courses ofknitted fabric and said sewing needle stitching said successive coursesto the base fabric passing underneath said presser late; P 2. A combinedknitting and sewing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sewingmechanism includes a needle bar and wherein there are at least twosewing needles rigidly secured to said needle bar, and there are atleast two needle holes in the table for receiving said two sewingneedles, each sewing needle being fed with 'a sewing thread, and saidyarn carrier extending above at each end of its stroke, said yarncarrier lies on the 35 outside of the adjacent needle hole. -5. Acombined knitting and sewing machine as claim in claim 4, wherein saidcam means include a' reciprocating knitting cam and the drive for saidknitting cam includes an eccentric connected to the drive of said sewingmechanism whereby said knitting cam effects a continuous reciprocatingmovement without pause at the ends of its stroke, said reciprocatingmovement being synchronized with the reciprocating movement of saidsewing needles such that the sewing needles start to descend through theneedle holes when the hook of one of the outermost knitting needles hasbeen retracted by said knitting cam rearwardly of the needle holes, andwherein the drive of the yarn carrier includes a cam driven at constantspeed by said sewing machine and an arm engageable with said cam andconnected to said yarn carrier, said last named cam causing the yarncarrier to move faster than said knitting cam and to make pauses at theend of its strokes, such that said yarn carrier reaches the end of itsstrokes before the outermost knitting needle has started its knittingoperation and be- 7 'tially during the whole stitching operation of thesewing needles. 1 r

6. A combined knitting and sewing machine as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid sewing mechanism includes a presser bar, said presser plate beingsecured to said presser bar. v

7. A combined knitting and sewing machine as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe rear portion of said presser plate is pivotally connected to thehousing of said sewing mechanism at a point spaced rearwardly from therear edge of said table.

8. A combined knitting and sewing machine as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid presser plate is substantially horizontally disposed above saidtable and has a plurality 'of grooves in which said knitting needles arelocated, and further including a latch guard covering said grooves atthe forward portion of said presser plate to receive the hooks and abutand open the latches of said knitting 4 a 10. needles during forwardmovement of the latter and to maintain said latches in open positionwhile said knitting needles are in foremost position.

9. A combined knitting and sewing machine as claimed in claim 1, whereinbracket means are secured to said presser plate and extend forwardly ofthe same and a transversely extending rail is rigidly secured to saidbracket means, said yarn carrier being slidably mounted on said rail.

, 10. A combined knitting and sewing machine as claimed in claim 1,wherein said knitting needles have butts projecting outwardly [from theouter face of said knitting needles in their knitting movement include aknitting cam slidably and transversely mounted on said presser plate andsaid cam means for reciprocating said outer face and having a camchannel engaged by said butts of said knitting needles.

11. A combined knitting and sewing machine as claimed inclaim 10,further including work pickup means associated with said presser plateand actuated by the reciprocating movement of said knitting cam.

1 2. A combined knitting and sewing machine as clamre'd in claim 11,wherein said work pickup means comprise a takeup roller journalled inhorizontal position underneath said presser plate and rearwardly of theaperture of the same, a presser roller spring urged against said t-akeuproller, pawl and ratchet means for rotating said pickup roller through alimited angular movement for each stroke of said knitting cam and meansoperated by said knitting cam and operating said pawl and ratchet means.

13. A combined knitting and sewing machine as claimed in claim 12,wherein said last named means comprise a toothed rack secured along saidknitting cam, a

gear wheel pivotally mounted on said presser plate and meshing with"said toothed rack, an eccentric cam secured to said gear wheel, acarriage longitudinally reciprocable on said presser plate and having anabutment member engaging said eccentric cam, said carriage spring urgedwith said abutment member in contact with said eccentric 0am to bereciprocated thereby, said pawl and ratchet means transforming thereciprocating movement of said carriage into stepwise rotation of saidtakeup roller.

14. A combined knitting and sewing machine as claimed in claim 1,wherein the aperture in said presser plate has a'rear transverse edgedisposed rearwardly of the path of the sewing needle and passing of aknitting yarn by the hook of aknitting needle through a prevrouslyknitted loop surrounding the shank of said knitting needle is effectedat said rear edge of said aperture.

15. A combined knitting and sewing machine as claimed in claim1,.wherein said sewing mechanism includes a needle bar and wherein thereis a single sewing needle, and including a yoke member to which saidsewing needle is rigidly secured, said yoke member mounted on the lowerend of said needle bar for transverse movement relative to said needlebar, interengaging means between said yoke member and said yarn carrierwhereby reciprocating movement of said yarn carrier reciprocates saidsewing needle transversely of the presser plate, said yarn carrierhaving an eye at its lower end through which said sewing needle passesduring its vertical reciprocating movement, so constructed and arrangedthat yarn may be fed by said yarn carrier, passed through the eye ofsaid sewing needle and used both for knitting and sewing.

16. A combined knitting and sewing machine as claimed in claim 15,wherein said interengaging means. comprises a vertical channel securedto said yarn carrier and pin projecting from said yoke member andengage-- able with said vertical channel whereby said channel moves saidyoke member transversely of the presser plate during reciprocatingmovement of said yarn carrier whileallowing vertical movement of saidyoke member during: reciprocating vertical movement of the sewingneedle.

11 7 1 7. As an attachment for a sewing machine having a needle bar forcarrying a sewing needle, a knitting mechanism comprising a knittingneedle support member adapted to be attached tothe presser foot bar of asewing machine in place of the presser foot, a plurality of spacedparallel grooves made in said support member, a plurality of knittingneedles slidably mounted insaid grooves, means for retaining theknitting needles in said grooves, means for reciprocating said needlesin succession for making a knitting movement, means adapted to beattached to the drive of said sewing machine and connected to saidreciprocating means for actuating the latter, said support member havingan aperture made therethrough opposite said knitting needles for thepassage of the sewing needle of the sewing machine and of the fabricknitted by said knitting needles, and a yarn carrier mounted forreciprocating movement on said support member, said yarn carrierextending adjacent the path of said knitting needles andrmovable acrosssaid knitting needles, and means connected to .said yarn carrier andadapted to be connected to the drive of said sewing machine forreciprocating said yarn carrier. I

' 18. An attachment as claimed in claim 17, wherein said support memberis in the form of a plate with said grooves opening at one face of saidplate and said knitting needles having butts projecting outwardly fromsaid face, said means for reciprocating said needles including aknitting cam mounted for reciprocating movement on said facetransversely of the long axis of said knitting needles :and having a camchannel engageable with said butts.

19. An attachment as claimed in claim 18, wherein the drive for saidknitting cam comprises a crank-wheel driven 20. An attachment as claimed"in claim 18, further including fabric takeup means mounted onsaidsupport member and having a driving connection with said reciprocatingknitting cam to be actuated thereby.

21. An attachment as claimed in claim 20, wherein said fabric takeupmeans comprises an eccentric cam rotatably mounted on said supportmember and rotatable under the action of the reciprocating movement ofsaid knitting cam, aspring pressed carriage movable back and forth underthe action of said eccentric cam and a fabric takeup roller actuated bythe movement of said carriage, said takeup roller adapted to engage a:spring pressed roller disposed underneath said takeup roller.

I portions of said grooves adjacent one edge of said aperture arecovered by a latch guard defining a space for receiving the hookportions of said knitting needles, said latch guard adapted to abut thelatches of said knitting needles and open the same when said knittingneedles are moved to enter underneath said latch guard, and the lattermaintaining said latches in open position while the hook portions ofsaid knitting needles are underneath said latch guard.

24. An attachment as claimed in claim 17, further including bracketmeans on said support member for rigidly securing said support member tothe presser bar of the sewing machine in such a position that theaperture of the support member will be opposite the sewing needle of thesewing machine.

25. An attachment as claimed in claim .17, wherein means are mounted onthe needle bar of the sewing machine for securing the sewing needle tothe needle bar while allowing transverse movement of the sewing needlewithrespect to the needle bar, and interengaging means between said lastnamed means and said yarn carrier whereby transverse reciprocatingmovement of the yarn carrier will reciprocate said sewing needletransversely along therewith, said yarn carrier having an eye at thelower end thereof aligned with said sewing needle for receiving thesewing needle in the vertical reciprocating movement of the latter.

. 26. An attachment as claimed in claim 17, wherein the drive for saidyarn carrier comprises a cam wheel adapted to be rotated at a constantspeed by the drive of the sewing machine and having a profile such as toreciprocate said yarn carrier with pauses at the end of the strokes ofsaid yarn carrier.

